Mr. Joy

"All right sweetheart, that's all you need to know, we will go now," John's mother said, "If you have any problem with little Tim, just call one of us, ok?"

With this, John's parents departed, leaving him alone with his five year old brother for the night. John knew nothing about his parents trip, just that they were going somewhere to spend the night, "just like in their teenager years". John had a vague idea of what this was meaning, but he really didn't wanted to know for sure.

John was sixteen years old, a typical teenager. He was not a genius, but he definitely was not dumb. He was a very friendly guy, and he was renowned for his sense of humor. This was the first time that he had been left alone with his brother for an entire day ("you're bigger now, you can handle this situation"). Althought he wished to spend this Saturday night with his friends at the local pub with a glass of beer, he was determined not to screw this up.

Little Tim was a merry, energetic kid. He had a special talent for breaking any rule possible, but doing it with such innocence, that he would always escape unpunished. He had a very rich imagination. He would always see dragons at his windows or you would see him in the living room running and jumping above "lava pools".

He also had an imaginary friend, who he named Mr. Joy. Tim used to describe him as a thin man that was always happy. Every time Tim did something wrong, he was blaming Mr. Joy for it. He did this so many times, that one day his father kicked him, shouting that there was no such thing as Mr. Joy. Despite of this, Tim continued to talk with Mr. Joy, on the window, or when he was outside. John realized that, after his father negated his existence, Mr. Joy somehow could not enter the house anymore. He always thought about Mr. Joy as some "bull**** of a little child."

The night went well. John fed the little boy some nachos, then let him go into his room to play. After that, he decided that he could somehow cheat his dumb teacher without doing his homework. He jumped on the couch, and started watching his favorite game-show on TV, with volume at maximum, shouting whenever someone would give a wrong answer. He wasn't allowed to do that when his parents were home. It was awesome.

As his wristwatch beeped, he realized it was already 23:00. He was so absorbed by the TV, that he forgot about his brother. He got up, and crept upstairs, to Tim's room. As he approached his brother's door, he could hear his brother murmuring, "Ok, see you tonight then." Odd. He slowly entered the room.

Tim was leaning over the window, standing on a chair, looking into the darkness of the night. John ran to him and grabbed him by his shirt. What if he fell out of the window? It wouldn't be very nice for their parents to return to a hospital instead of their home.

"What were you doing, you little bastard?"

"I was talking with Mr. Joy, of course!" Tim said, innocently.

John rolled his eyes, and then grabbed him and put him in his bed. He then proceeded in closing the lights. Before he could exit the room, he heard Tim murmuring:

"Anyway, Mr. Joy said he will be very glad to meet you tonight..."
John felt a chill running down his spine, but he remembered about his brother's imagination, so he nodded and closed the door. Then he went in his room and, as he was bored, he took a book and started reading, slowly falling asleep.

Knock. Knock. Knock.

John peeked at his clock. 4:30 in the morning. He thought he was still dreaming.

Knock. Knock. Knock.

This time he was sure. Someone was at the door. He lazily got up from his bed, and went downstairs. The house was dark, and the curtains were pulled across the windows.

Knock. Knock. Knock.

John approached the door. He had a bad feeling about this. He dared to look through the peephole, just to see his mother standing in front of the door, smiling. Why would they come home at this hour? And why didn't they call? John thought that maybe they were trying not to wake little Tim up. He decided to open the door.

There she was, his mother. Only that she wasn't standing on her own. As soon as he opened the door, she fell down on the floor. She had her back cut open, with blood still pouring from the wound, revealing her broken spine. In some parts, flesh was completely ripped, by what looked like a pair of sharp claws. John was shocked, and held on not to vomit on the spot. He then lift his gaze, only to see somenthing more grotesque.

In front of him stood a pale, humanoid creature. He was dressed with a long white shirt, stained with a red liquid, covering his knees. He had abnormally short limbs, twisted at odd angles, each of then finishing with razor-sharp claws. John tried to let out a scream, but he couldn't let go anything. The creature's face was covered by black, slimy hair, and his only facial feature visible was a large smile, spread over his face. He was giggling like a child. John, stepped back, but tripped and fell right next to his mother. She was still smiling. John passed out.

He woke covered in cold sweat in his bed. Glancing down to his clock, he noticed it was 4:50. He was relaxed, realizing that it was all a nightmare. He rose up, hearing a horn from outside. He slowly walked to his window, and pulled the curtain. Outside, he recognized his parent's car. It has smashed into the tree in front of the house. But what was more horrible was the repulsive sight John glimpsed through the tree's leaves. John's father was hanging down a branch, with what seemed a white cloth around his neck, with his abdomen cut open and his guts hanging freely out of it. But John could only look at his face. He was smiling. He ran for the door, when he heard a giggle coming from his bed. Thinking that Tim somehow came in without John noticing him, he approached the bed and pulled the covers.

He was greeted by a blank face, covered with a wide smile. He jumped back, screaming. The creature got up and spoke, in a childish way, but with a demonic tone, "Glad to have met you, John! It was a pleasure playing with you! You were so funny!" Then he giggled, and pushed John in the wall, ripping him open alive. John could hear the sound of flesh tearing apart and bone crushing, and felt an unimaginable pain. He fell on the floor, twitching, his vision blurring. Through the immense agony, he could hear his brother shouting:

"Mr. Joy! Have you met John?"

Then he heard a childish voice whispering:

"Yes Timmy. He was a very good playing partner, but I got bored... Why don't you come here so we can play together?"